Greene & Greene style mirror (cherry & walnut)

I modeled this after a recent article in Fine Woodworking. Since it was my first work with cherry, and my first Greene & Greene style, I simplified it a bit. (Sorry about the cardboard but taking pictures of a mirror is tricky otherwise!) The joinery is mortise and tenon.

I learned that cherry is prone to tear-out when planing. I was able to solve that by planing only 1/64th or less at a time. But I found that it’s fairly easy to carve and shape, sands nicely, and all-in-all is a nice wood to work with. It was finished with a coat of shellac followed by 5 coats of wipe-on poly and a coat of paste wax.

The cherry came from a large tree that was cut from my father’s yard on Chebeague Island in Maine. It’s been drying in the garage for about a year now.

-- Some problems are best solved with an optimistic approach. Optimism shines a light on alternatives that are otherwise not visible.